There are all kinds of rain barrels:  50 gallon, 214 gallon (okay, technically not a barrel), plastic looking, oak looking, oak. The list of styles is long.  But they all have one common purpose, which is to catch rainwater.  People have been trying to catch rainwater for a long, long time, so it stands to reason that we’ve gotten good at it.

They do have one weakness, however, and that’s water pressure.  Us city folk are so used to turning on a faucet and having water pressure, that it sometimes surprises us that first time we turn the faucet on our first rain barrel and don’t have the equivalent  of a garden hose.  The only pressure that a rain barrel hose has is from the weight of the water in the barrel.  Naturally, the fuller the barrel, the higher the water pressure.  Even then, don’t expect much.  If you raise the barrel off the ground, say above a garden wall, then that should help with pressure too.  Just be sure that the barrel is well situated and won’t fall over.  A fully loaded rain barrel coming down on you probably wouldn’t be too pleasant.

This photo is of our two rain barrels.  They’re at the edge of the front yard, sitting in the driveway at the corner of the porch.  We use the rainwater primarily for two things.   Sherry uses it to water newly potted plants.  In fact, anything she’s starting usually winds up sitting around the rain barrels.  That way they’re easy to get to and easy to water.  I use the rainwater to water two Japanese dogwood trees that we have at the street.  The city planted them when the old trees died.  They’re perfect for city use because they don’t get nearly as big as the old trees did, and aren’t the problem with electrical wires that the old trees were.  Plus, when you have a whole block planted with them, blooming season is lovely.  I love driving down our street when the Japanese dogwoods are in bloom.

Of course, we use the rainwater for other things as well, but those are the primary uses.  I guess that’s mainly because of the water pressure issue.  I use a bucket to water the trees.

When you get a rain barrel, there are only a couple of things that you want to make sure of.  If it’s the type that has a screen on the top (see photo), which most are, make sure that the screen mesh is small enough to keep mosquitoes from getting into the water and breeding.

We also like that our hose, which is attached at the bottom of course, has a slot to anchor to at the top (see photo).  That way it’s easy to get to and doesn’t drip.  It also has a sort of faucet at the end of the hose.  Basically it’s just an open/shut valve that you turn.  Simple.

If it’s going be be very visible, make sure that it’s a color and a style that you like, because it’s going to be there for a very long time.  Don’t save $10 and have to look at ugly for 10 years.  Not worth it.  And that’s about all the advice I have on buying a water barrel.

One thing that we haven’t tried, but that might work pretty well, is a drip hose.  Drip hoses don’t require a lot of water pressure.  We’re going to test that theory pretty soon because Sherry has just purchased 8 more rain barrels and is going to go from catching rain to “rainwater harvesting”.  Think rain barrels on steroids.  And where are we going to put this rain barrel “farm” on our little piece of land without it being an eye sore?   We have a plan.   Or rather, Sherry has a plan. (Say “yes dear”).

Filed under: Our Garden, Water conservation